NEISD presents school boundary options to public

Next month the NEISD Board of Trustees is expected to change the elementary school attendance boundaries to accommodate two new campuses currently under construction north of Loop 1604. On Wednesday, NEISD Superintendent Dr. Richard Middleton discussed six different options with parents.The public meeting at Tejeda Middle School was the first of two presentations NEISD hosted this week.A second meeting was held Thursday at Lopez Middle School.

Cibolo Green and Tuscany Heights elementary schools are expected to open in time for the 2010-11 school year and will relieve overcrowding at Canyon Ridge and Roan Forest elementary schools.

NEISD is considering three possible attendance boundaries for Cibolo Green Elementary School, currently under construction at 24315 Bulverde Road.The first option would transfer all students east of Bulverde Road and north of Evans Road to the new school.This would include the communities of Bulverde Village, Cibolo Canyons, Fossil Creek and Fossil Ridge.Cibolo Green’s second boundary option would just include Bulverde Village and Cibolo Canyons neighborhoods, while the third scenario would transfer only students in Bulverde Village to the new school.

The other new campus, Tuscany Heights, will be located at 25001 Wilderness Oak and will serve those students in surrounding neighborhoods, including Mountain Lodge, Summerglen, Oaklands and Tuscany Heights, as well as the Northern Canyon Ridge neighborhoods of Canyon Springs, the Ridge and Mesa. Another proposed scenario would extend Tuscany Heights' attendance boundary to include Fairway Bridge.

A final boundary change being considered by NEISD would transfer Canyon Ridge Elementary students residing in three Stone Oak apartment complexes -- Claremore, Toscana and the Villas of Sonterra -- to Stone Oak Elementary.

All students at Tuscany Heights Elementary will feed into Bush Middle School and Reagan High.

Both schools will have a grandfather clause allowing all incoming fifth-graders to stay at their current campus, regardless of which attendance boundary they reside in.In order to keep families together, NEISD will allow any younger siblings of grandfathered fifth-graders to stay at their current school for one year as well.However, no bus transportation will be provided for these students.

A concern about the limited access to Tuscany Heights Elementary was raised by one parent during Wednesday’s meeting.Middleton said Wilderness Oak, which currently dead-ends at Mountain Lodge, will eventually be extended to provide a more direct route to the school.

The completion of “Wilderness Oak, to us, is critical,” he said, adding that the road will hopefully be built before Tuscany Heights opens.Worse-case scenario, Wilderness Oak won’t be completed until 12 to 18 months after the 2010-11 school year begins.

Ideally, NEISD wants between 800 and 1000 students at every elementary school.Roan Forest is currently capped with 1,161 students, as is Canyon Ridge with 1,244. Wilderness Oak Elementary is also capped with 1,233 students.

Cibolo Green and Tuscany Heights are two of four new elementary schools approved through a 2007 bond.The other two campuses will open in 2012 – one at the northeast corner of Huebner Road and Loop 1604 and the other within Steubing Ranch.Another elementary school is planned east of Hwy 281 near Bulverde Road and Roseheart.

If needed, NEISD will schedule a third community meeting to discuss the boundary changes on Dec. 9.The school board is expected to vote on this issue Dec. 14.